ABOUT US

Castleforge Partners (formerly known as Mercer Real Estate Partners) was founded in 2010 by Brandon Hollihan and Michael Kovacs. To date Castleforge Partners has invested over £500 million of asset value throughout the UK and generated average returns in excess of underwritten expectations across numerous historic realisations. Castleforge Partners achieved final close above its target on CF Fund II in July 2016 at £235 million of discretionary equity. CFP II includes a range of institutional investors from the US, the UK and Europe.

Brandon Hollihan co-founded Castleforge Partners in July 2010. Prior to founding Castleforge Partners, Brandon worked for Westbrook Partners in London and at Morgan Stanley Real Estate (“MSRE”) in New York. He has transacted over £2.0 billion of real estate asset value across the US and Western Europe across a diverse range of real estate investment types, including single asset and portfolios purchases, investments in public companies, recapitalizations, distressed developments, whole bank loans (senior and subordinated), corporate bonds and CMBS.

He has experience investing in a range of asset classes including city centre and suburban office, high street retail, shopping centres, retail outlets, hotels, industrial logistics and warehouses, multifamily and high-end residential, student housing and land.

Brandon graduated with honours from Columbia University in New York City and is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the Global Real Estate Institute.

Michael Kovacs co-founded Castleforge Partners in July 2010. Prior to founding Castleforge Partners, Michael worked at Westbrook Partners in London, where he was involved in transactions representing over £2.0 billion of asset value for Westbrook’s various funds in the UK, Europe and Asia across a diverse range of real estate investment types. These transactions involved all major real estate asset classes and ranged from purchases of single assets and portfolios, to investments in public companies, recapitalization distressed developments, whole bank loans, corporate bonds and CMBS.

Prior to Westbrook Partners, Michael worked at The Blackstone Group in New York, where he was involved in mergers and acquisitions across a wide range of industry sectors.

Michael received a B.S. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated summa cum laude, and he currently serves on the University’s UK Europe Leadership Committee.